Shadow of the Day
by I Caught Myself
Summary: IDW: Oneshot. Set just after 'All Hail Megatron #12'. Will contain spoilers. Skywarp feels the pain for the terrible thing he's done. Starscream arrives, knowing something bad has happened and helps Skywarp come to terms. WarpXTC mentioned.


**This came into my head after I'd read 'All Hail Megatron #12' and I had to write it down. Lyrics taken from the Linkin Park song 'Shadow of the Day'.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Transformers**

**Shadow of the Day**

Fading light streamed in through the holes in the roof of the derelict building, casting long shadows and highlighting the dust that still floated in the air, slowly falling to settle on the first surface that it touched. Skywarp wiped the dust from his dead sparkmate's decimated face. He didn't know how long he had been sitting in the building – he just knew that it wasn't quite a day. The first of many days without Thundercracker. He could still see Thundercracker's face the moment he had shot him, he could still see the blue Seeker tumbling from the sky and the cloud of dust that rose from the building when he had fallen through the roof. Skywarp had flown after Thundercracker and found his body in this very warehouse. He was still cradling him against his chest – he couldn't believe he had just killed Thundercracker – he never would forgive himself.

Skywarp heard something outside – it sounded like someone moving outside. He hoped it was the Autobots. They could kill him too, so that he wouldn't have to live with his guilt every day. Skywarp clutched Thundercracker against him, staring into his dark and shattered optics. If he was only going to see for a couple of minutes before the Autobots blasted him, he wanted his final living memory to be the face of his sparkmate – ruined as it was. Purple hands traced blue wings, affection and regret evident in the action. This was the only time he had ever felt this – probably the only time any Decepticon had ever felt regret. Skywarp buried his head in Thundercracker's neck, waiting for the Autobots to shoot him.

"Skywarp? Thundercracker?" Starscream was surprised to find both members of his Trine in a place like this. "What are you both doing in here?"

"Kill me..." Skywarp sobbed. Starscream glanced at Thundercracker and observed that there was no light in the blue Seeker's optics – he barely had optics. He barely had a face. There was nothing. Starscream's optics widened and he approached Skywarp, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Starscream asked quietly.

"Tankor dropped the bomb... Thundercracker caught it and stopped it from detonating." Skywarp choked.

"I noticed that." Starscream said, patting Skywarp on the shoulder. "What happened after that?"

"I... I... called him a traitor." Skywarp recalled. "And then... I shot him."

"Oh, Skywarp." Starscream gasped.

"You can't have any idea what the pain was like. It felt like my spark was being torn out of me." Skywarp's expression was one of pain. "There's a hole in me, Starscream... a hole that can't... and won't... be filled. Kill me, please."

"I thought something had gone wrong... I felt it too... like some sort of ripple. I knew something was wrong." Starscream confessed. "That's why I came back to investigate."

"Kill me..." Skywarp whispered.

"I'm not going to kill you." Starscream declared. "I'm going to reward you."

"... What for?" Skywarp asked.

"You put the Decepticon cause before your sparkmate's life." Starscream explained. "Don't you think that deserves merit?"

"I don't want your reward." Skywarp growled. "Nothing you can do will ever bring him back. Nothing."

"Skywarp, sometimes we just have to let things go." Starscream crouched beside the other Seeker. "Thundercracker betrayed us, Skywarp. Leave him, we'll remember him as he was."

"How can I remember him before... this." Skywarp looked down at Thundercracker's destroyed face. "Before I did this to him."

"Can you remember back on Cybertron, when it was just our Trine? Just the three of us?" Starscream asked, making Skywarp look at him.

"Yes, I can." Skywarp replied.

"Then remember him like that." Starscream urged. "Right now, we have to leave. The humans will be looking for us. They'll kill us if they are lucky enough to find us.

"Just let me say goodbye." Skywarp pleaded.

"Be quick." Starscream soared out of the hole in the roof. Skywarp heard the clang when he landed above him. He looked back down at his sparkmate's ruined face – how could he remember him back on Cybertron, when this was the last time he would ever see him?

"Goodbye, Thundercracker." Skywarp whispered. He carefully laid the body of his sparkmate on the floor of the crumbling building, placing his arms by his sides. Skywarp took one more long look at Thundercracker's body and flew up, out of the hole in the ceiling. He landed beside Starscream, who was staring across the city skyline.

"Sunset on Earth." Starscream mumbled. "The end of a day, the beginning of a night."

"It's beautiful." Skywarp observed. "Do you think, Thundercracker would've thought so?"

"Yes." Starscream looked up at the sky. "This sunset is for him. after this – he's gone. Okay?"

"Okay." Skywarp agreed. The seekers froze, hearing human voices somewhere in the streets below.

"We have to go." Starscream stated.

"I know." Skywarp lingered a bit, looking down into the building through the hole. The golden sunbeams were lighting up the body of their fallen comrade.

"Skywarp. Let's _go_." Starscream hissed. The two Seekers took to the sky, leaving New York City behind them.

_And the shadow of the day_

_Will embrace the world in grey_

_And the sun will set for you_

**Thanks for reading! I really wanted to write this because I hated it when Skywarp killed Thundercracker and so did my friend (she seemed a lot more effected by it than me though)**

**If you read this, please click that nicely placed box at the bottom that says 'review'. If you do, you get cookies : )**


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